Field
This disclosure relates to providing electronic manifesting capability for a distribution network.
Description of the Related Technology
A distribution network may have many items in process or transit at any time. In some instances a distribution network will be responsible for inducting an item into the distribution process, collecting payment for the transportation of the item based on certain parameters (e.g. original/destination location; item weight; item dimensions), tracking the item throughout the distribution process and, if necessary, revising the data associated with the item (e.g. destination location and payment information). When executed manually, this process can be labor intensive and prone to human error. Automating the process for identifying an item, facilitating payment for an item, tracking an item and revising the destination or other data associated with an item, can enable a distribution network to realize benefits including, increases in efficiency and improvements in accounting accuracy. Generally, when a sender desires to send an item, the item is provided to the distribution network. When the item is onboarded or taken into the distribution network, the network needs to identify the item. This can be done manually or using optical character recognition (OCR), or other resource intensive identification techniques. After identifying the item, the distribution network can then produce a unique, machine readable identifier for the item, which is used for handling events and tracking the item throughout the distribution network. If the sender had access to the distribution network's information systems, the sender could identify the item to the distribution network and provide item identification directly on the item as well as electronically to the distribution network's information systems. Allowing the sender to access the distribution networks information systems would also enable the sender to remit payment for the services to be provided by the distribution network. For the distribution network, providing senders access to information systems would eliminate the need for the distribution network to identify the item at the point of induction, reducing labor costs and costs resulting from human error and payment fraud. For senders, this access may speed up and reduce the resources required to identify and remit payment for items inducted into the distribution network, as well as facilitate any changes to the item once it is inducted. A shipper or user may desire or be granted secure access to a distribution network's systems of record enabling a shipper to electronically manifest shipping label data to said records and initiate postage payment via a scanning device scan at the point of inducting an item (e.g. a package) into the distribution process.